School of Education News

UW-Madison’s Julie Underwood is quoted in recent reports from Education Week and National Public Radio highlighting U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ upcoming speech Thursday to the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC.

Underwood is the Susan Engeleiter Professor of Education Law, Policy and Practice, and the former dean of the School of Education.

Underwood

Writes Education Week’s Arianna Prothero: “U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos — an ardent school choice supporter who has turned out to be among the Trump administration’s most polarizing cabinet picks — will deliver a speech this week to members of a controversial organization that some argue is her best shot at advancing an aggressive school choice agenda. The American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, is known for drafting conservative model legislation in states on a range of issues including gun rights, tax reform, and education. DeVos will appear at ALEC’s annual meeting Thursday in Denver.”

Prothero adds: “ … ALEC is successful at influencing policy in statehouses, and its focus on private school choice dovetails perfectly with DeVos’ education priorities.”

Predictably, Education Week notes, DeVos’ decision to address ALEC members this week is drawing some criticism.

“My concern about ALEC is that (it) takes the private corporation and gives them such incredible power,” says Underwood.

ALEC has a track record, NPR reports, of getting the laws that it writes on the books in dozens of states with few changes.

"We see the same pieces of legislation being proposed in state, after state, after state," Underwood tells NPR, which notes how she has been investigating ALEC's actions in education for the past five years.